Behavioural plasticity in activity and sexual interactions in a social lizard at high environmental temperatures.

Sexual selection often shapes social behavioural activities, such as movement in the environment to find possible partners, performance of displays to signal dominance and courtship behaviours. Such activities may be negatively influenced by increasing temperatures, especially in ectotherms, because individuals either have to withstand the unfavourable condition or are forced to allocate more time to thermoregulation by increasing shelter seeking behaviour. Thus, they "miss" opportunities for social and reproductive interactions.

Biomarkers of bone and mineral disorders (FGF-23, fetuin-A) and vascular calcification scores as predictive tools for cardiovascular death in dialysis patients, at 10 years of follow-up.

Cardiovascular disorders represent the leading cause of death in dialysis patients. Alterations of bone and mineral metabolism (BMM) and vascular calcifications play a fundamental role in it. The objective of this study was to evaluate the predictive role on cardiovascular mortality of the measurement of biomarkers of BMM and vascular calcifications.

Female sperm storage mediates post-copulatory costs and benefits of ejaculate anticipatory plasticity in the guppy.

Males of many species evolved the capability of adjusting their ejaculate phenotype in response to social cues to match the expected mating conditions. When females store sperm for a prolonged time, the expected fitness return of plastic adjustments of ejaculate phenotype may depend on the interval between mating and fertilization. Although prolonged female sperm storage (FSS) increases the opportunity for sperm competition, as a consequence of the longer temporal overlap of ejaculates from several males, it may also create variable selective forces on ejaculate phenotype, for example by exposing trade-offs between sperm velocity and sperm survival.

Macroevolution of sexual size dimorphism and reproduction-related phenotypic traits in lizards of the Chaco Domain.

Background: Comparing sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in the light of the phylogenetic hypothesis may help to understand the phenotypic evolution associated with sexual selection (size of whole body and of reproduction-related body parts). Within a macroevolutionary framework, we evaluated the association between the evolution of SSD and the evolution of reproduction-related phenotypic traits, and whether this association has favored female fecundity, considering also variations according to reproductive modes. We focused on the lizard species that inhabit the Chaco Domain since this is a natural unit with a high diversity of species.

Electrostimulation is an effective and safe method for semen collection in medium-sized lizards.

The development of safe and consistent semen collection protocols should be ensured to understand basic sperm parameters of a species. Electroejaculation has been hypothesized and tested to be a safe method to evaluate male reproductive potential in wild animals. However, little is known about semen collection protocols in lizards.

Female nutritional condition affects ovarian fluid quality in guppies.

Male and female gametes are often embedded in fluids that are produced by gonads and other reproductive tissues. Female reproductive fluids, usually called ovarian fluid (OF), which often constitute a relevant volumetric component of the egg mass, are rich in ions, sugars and proteins, and are involved in several functions, from protecting gametes to facilitating fertilization, and often act as mediators of post-mating sexual selection. Despite their applied and evolutionary importance, we know virtually nothing about the costs of female reproductive fluid production.

Do female reproductive stage and phenotype influence thermal requirements in an oviparous lizard?

Reproduction is an energetically costly activity that can alter thermal requirements in Squamata. This phenomenon has been largely studied in many viviparous species; however, little is known about the role of oviparous females in controlling temperature during vitellogenesis and embryo development before oviposition. Diversity of female phenotypes could be associated with diversity of thermoregulatory performance, since thermal requirements are frequently influenced by body shape.

Pre- and Postcopulatory Traits of Salvator Male Lizards in Allopatry and Sympatry.

The reproductive traits of males are under influence of sexual pressures before and after copulation. The strength of sexual selection varies across populations because they undergo varying competition for mating opportunities. Besides intraspecific pressures, individuals seem to be subjected to pressures driven by interspecific interactions in sympatry.

Variability in sperm form and function in the context of sperm competition risk in two Tupinambis lizards.

In polyandrous species, sperm morphometry and sperm velocity are under strong sexual selection. Although several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the role of sperm competition in sperm trait variation, this aspect is still poorly understood. It has been suggested that an increase in sperm competition pressure could reduce sperm size variation or produce a diversity of sperm to maximize male fertilization success.

Use of percutaneous ethanol injection therapy for recurrent secondary hyperparathyroidism after subtotal parathyroidectomy.

We evaluated the efficacy of percutaneous ethanol injection therapy (PEIT) as a therapeutic option for recurrence of secondary hyperparathyroidism after subtotal parathyroidectomy in ESRD patients. Six patients underwent PEIT. A mean of 1.

Percutaneous ethanol injection therapy in post-transplant patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism.

Persistent hyperparathyroidism is frequent in postrenal transplant patients. Percutaneous ethanol injection therapy (PEIT) is an alternative for treatment of patients with secondary hyperparathyroidism but it was not described in postrenal transplant patients. We report our experience with PEIT to control hyperparathyroidism in the post-transplant period.